Still from Rollie Pemberton's (a.k.a. Cadence Weapon) new video shot at Bob and Doug McKenzie Statue near Rogers Place in Edmonton.Scott Gallent
“We do it for the love, not the fame or the cars – repping Edmo.”
Edmonton-born rapper Rollie Pemberton, who records music under the professional moniker Cadence Weapon, has released an updated version of his 2017 ode to the hometown Oilers. The song is Connor McDavid (2024 Stanley Cup Version), named for the team’s sublime centre. The occasion, of course, is the current Stanley Cup finals matchup between Edmonton and the Florida Panthers.
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With its fanboy bars and brassy bravado, Connor McDavid is a musical rally call – hip-hop hurrah, as it were. It joins a pantheon of Canadian hockey songs that include hokey singalongs (Stompin’ Tom Connors’s The Hockey Song), historical rockers (the Tragically Hip’s Fifty-Mission Cap) and, my favourite, Ron Leary’s Ballad of Bob Probert.
Those songs and 39 more are included on the National Music Centre’s Spotify Playlist, Best Canadian Hockey Songs. Connor McDavid sticks out – it is a rare rap track in the bunch. And as much positive attention as the song has attracted, there has been some blowback on social media.
“There’s a bit of trepidation around the fact that it’s a rap song,” says Pemberton, the Polaris Music Prize winner and former poet laureate of Edmonton who spoke to The Globe and Mail from his grandmother’s house in the Big E. “There’s still a sentiment out there that rap is not real music. Which you would think would be totally anachronistic by this point.”
Anachronistic, but not unexpected. Despite its prominent place in popular music, hip hop continues to be disrespected. Other than Drake’s courtside ambassadorship with the Toronto Raptors, rap and major sporting events are not regular dancing partners. It wasn’t until 2022, when Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar performed at Super Bowl LVI halftime show, that hip hop finally headlined pop music’s most-watched spectacle.
This week, Pemberton, who now lives in Hamilton, called on fans to meet him at the Bob and Doug McKenzie Statue near Rogers Place, the Oilers’ home arena. They showed up loud and proud in orange, white and navy blue to participate in shooting the new video for the revamped version of Connor McDavid.
Pemberton’s connection to Edmonton sports isn’t limited to the Oiler anthem. His grandfather Rollie Miles was a Canadian Football Hall of Famer and an Edmonton Eskimos (now the Edmonton Elks) star for 11 years. Yet, other than an after-party at the 2010 Grey Cup in Edmonton, Pemberton has never been invited to play a sporting event.
And he won’t be part of this week’s official Stanley Cup concerts at Scotiabank Fan Park outside of Rogers Place. On Thursday, before the Oilers were defeated by the Panthers to go down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, the ‘90s rock band Our Lady Peace performed a 30-minute set. The band is from Ontario; drummer Jason Pierce, from London, Ont., wore an Oilers jersey.
On Saturday, country music queen Shania Twain will give the pregame concert. The Ontario-born Come On Over singer lives in Las Vegas and has worn hockey sweaters representing more cities than the well-travelled goalie Gary (Suitcase) Smith.
“It’s unfortunate but very typical that you’re having an event in Edmonton and there’s no Edmonton artist involved,” Pemberton says. “I get why they want to have Shania Twain, but Our Lady Peace, not so much. I don’t know how many people are clamouring for that.”
Clamouring often has nothing to do with it. The only one calling to have Green Day perform the halftime show at last year’s Grey Cup in Hamilton was the band’s record label, Reprise. The American pop-punk trio had a new album coming. The football game performance was strictly a marketing endeavour.
Booked for the halftime entertainment at this year’s Grey Cup contest in Vancouver are the Jonas Brothers. Speaking of anachronisms.
“I guess that’s part of the Canadian inferiority complex,” Pemberton says. “We need to get American artists, or Canadian artists that have the American co-sign.”
As for Pemberton, his hockey song has brought him exposure. But its purpose is community and calling for a rally. One defeat away from losing the Stanley Cup final, the city and team need Connor McDavid: “Yeah we caught a few Ls, now we back in the game, hope we see a banner getting raised …”